Shadow Kanji
Shadow Kanji (完二の影, Kanji no Kage) is a boss in Persona 4. It is the Shadow Self of Kanji Tatsumi. Appearances *''Persona 4'' / Golden: Boss **''Persona 4 (Manga): Minor Antagonist **Persona 4 The Animation: Minor Antagonist **Persona 4 Visualive: Minor Antagonist *Persona 4 Arena: Boss ''(Kanji Story Route) **''Persona 4 Arena Ultimax: Playable Character, Minor Antagonist Design The rose bouquet around the head of Shadow Kanji are a reference to a genre of manga directed at men featuring masculine men called "''Bara", the Japanese word for a rose. The rose motif can also be seen when Kanji appears in the arcade opening in Persona 4 Arena. Profile ''Persona 4'' Shadow Kanji manifested from Kanji Tatsumi's hidden feelings of shame concerning his confused sexual orientation, regarding Naoto Shirogane's 'interest' in him, the possibility of being judged for being gay, having stereotypically feminine interests and hobbies like sewing and painting, and disdain of girls for ridiculing him for it. The Shadow first appeared on the Midnight Channel as a starkly-clothed version of the real Kanji, speaking with a heavy lisp and talking in a stereotypical flamboyant manner. When confronted on top of the "men's only" Steamy Bathhouse, the Shadow outright said its preference was for a male partner, saying it hated women because it felt that women tend to gossip, spread rumors and lies and ridicule him because of his sewing hobbies. This enraged Kanji, who denied the Shadow. Upon being denied, the Shadow laughed and transformed into a large half-black half-white, extremely muscular figure, with Shadow Kanji's human form situated at its top, surrounded by roses. The creature holds two Mars symbols and is accompanied by a duo of Shadows known as the Tough Guy (タフガイ, Tafu Gai) and the Nice Guy (ナイスガイ, Naisu Gai). The party manages to defeat Kanji's Shadow, but the real Kanji still refused to accept it. When it said "you three would make wonderful boyfriends," Kanji became even more angry. The Shadow pleaded desperately with the party at this point, asking if anyone would just accept it. Kanji punched the Shadow, but eventually accepted it; Kanji said "it ain't a matter of guys or chicks... I'm just scared shitless of being rejected. I'm a total pansy who tries to make everyone hate me." Upon accepting the Shadow, it transformed into Kanji's Persona, Take-Mikazuchi. In the manga, a shadow that looks like either the Tough Guy or Nice Guy appears behind Chie but is not seen assisting Shadow Kanji. Stats ''Persona 4'' Shadow Kanji Persona 4= |-| Persona 4 Golden= Nice Guy Persona 4= |-| Persona 4 Golden= Tough Guy Persona 4= |-| Persona 4 Golden= Strategy ''Persona 4'' The fight with Shadow Kanji is rather difficult because of the constant assistance from Nice Guy and Tough Guy, both of which have resistances which makes the battle more difficult as they were made to limit Chie and Yukiko's abilities. In fact, due to the support (both offensive, and defensive) by the Nice/Tough Guys, this boss can be considered one of the hardest ones in the game. It is generally a good idea to attempt challenging Shadow Kanji when your party is at around Level 22 and above. If the party is any lower than that, they will have a difficult time keeping your health up. Additionally, make sure the party's armor has high protection values as the fight is physically oriented. Consider investing in a lot of Medical Kits, Dokudami Teas and Sedatives. Buy about 6 of each, which is commonly enough, but it always helps to have more on hand. The Medical Kits will recover HP much faster than Yukiko's Media, the Teas will cure poison and the Sedatives will clear the other aliments. If the protagonist fuses an Ares on June 3rd, the last day where Kanji can be saved, it will be given a bonus skill Resist Poison, thus giving the protagonist a Persona resistant to both physical and poison skills. Nice Guy Nice Guy is strong against fire attacks and absorbs ice attacks, and will usually cast Heat Riser on Shadow Kanji which increases all of his stats. He will also cast Tarukaja on Tough Guy, so have Yosuke use Dekaja to counter this problem. Getting rid of the Nice Guy is tantamount to beating Shadow Kanji. It removes any chance of him being healed by Diarama and removes the constant buffs that take a toll on the party's health, making the fight much less tedious and dragged-down. Tough Guy Tough Guy absorbs physical and fire attacks, and assists Shadow Kanji with the attacking. He can also cast Dekaja to nullify buffs, although he isn't quite as powerful as Kanji. Taking him down ensures that the buffs stay for three turns, however the party does not have to defeat him, but will be given extra experience if they do. While Tough Guy isn't as threatening as Nice Guy, despite his name, he can still cause some constant harassment towards the party if left unchecked with his constant Kill Rushes and Rampages. This is made worse when Shadow Kanji enrages Chie and Yukiko, who will then take additional damage when he uses one of the two skills. Shadow Kanji Shadow Kanji will first use Power Charge and then will always follow it with Swift Strike, which can deal major damage to the party. Using Guard when he uses Power Charge is a must. Consider getting a Persona with the Tetrakarn skill. It not only negates Swift Strike, it also returns a sizable portion of the damage back to Shadow Kanji, making the fight much easier when he is buffed. A Persona that is resistant to Phys will make the fight easier as long as it isn't weak to Electric attacks. When Shadow Kanji's health gets low, he'll do his dialogue about wanting acceptance and start to use his other skills, such as Fanatical Spark, Roar of Wrath and Forbidden Murmur. Although he will use Power Charge less frequently, be careful about Fanatical Spark, and make sure that the protagonist isn't equipped with a Persona weak to Electricity. Try to heal as many times as possible with Yukiko, and maybe have some SP recovering items, because this will be a long battle. By the time his health is reduced by around 70-80%, he will start using Tetrakarn. This is the time to deliver the killing blow with a barrage of elemental-based skills as Shadow Kanji has no resistances against elemental attacks. ''Persona 4 Golden'' Nice Guy is now weak to Ice. However, it cannot be rendered Dizzy and now has Wall skills and Re Patra to counteract these new weaknesses during the fight, which make him remain as the priority target to defeat in the fight. Tough Guy is now weak to Fire and no longer absorbs physical attacks. Keeping him dizzy means one less attacker on Shadow Kanji's side, and fewer turns spent healing instead of attacking. Battle Quotes ''Persona 4'' Quotes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODDqdeScxIA *''"I am a shadow... The true self... I'm just being true to myself... And that's why... I'll get rid of anything in my way!"'' (Battle Opening) *''"This has nothing to do with you guys anymore! Didn't I just say I'm gonna get rid of you!?"'' *''"Hold me!"'' (Using Power Charge/Fanatical Spark) *''"Eyes closed!"'' (Using Power Charge/Fanatical Spark) *''"Mmmm, gimme more!"'' (Using Power Charge) *''"Ohhhhh..."'' (Attacking) *''"Oooooh..." (Attacking) *"You don't accept me! You'll never accept me!"'' (Recovering from Knock Down) *''"Ngh, why are you trying to keep me down!?"'' (Recovering from Knock Down) *''"I've already made my decision to go through with this. Get out of my way... Or I'll crush you!"'' (First attack) *''"Come with me!"'' (Using Roar of Wrath) *''"So big and strong!"'' (Using Forbidden Murmur/Roar of Wrath) *''"You want this?"'' (Using Forbidden Murmur/Roar of Wrath) *''"Stay out of my way! What's wrong with acting however I feel like!?"'' (Weakening) *''"Stay away, or I'll crush you!"'' (unused?) *''"I'll be in a fix that you get in my way!"'' *''"I... I won't forgive you for that!" (unused?) *"My... my pal!"'' (unused, most likely used if party defeats Nice/Tough Guy) *''"Time to show you everything I got, baby!'' *''"I... I... I've made my decision!"'' *''"Ngh... why are you trying to keep me down?!"'' *''"You don't accept me! You'll never accept me!"'' *''"I know you all thought I was 'weird'... Deep down... you don't accept me at all! No matter what, I won't lose!"'' (Weakening) *''"Shall I show you what pain can be?!"'' *''"Y'know, I can be very gentle towards boys!" (unused) *"Girls... don't interest me, thank you." (unused) *"Why don't you eat this?!"'' *''"Shall I show you my... special moves?"'' *''"Dammit... dammit! I won't... accept..."'' *''"Ohhh! You're so mean!"'' (Upon defeat) *''"Ohhh! ...Accept me!"'' (Upon defeat) ''Persona 4 Arena Ultimax'' * "Oh, you're picking me?" ''(Character select) * ''"Let's enjoy this together!" ''(Character select) * ''"Well then... onward... and deeper!" (Starting the round) * "How bold of you to come all this way...to be destroyed!" ''(vs. Labrys in arcade mode) * ''"Oh! That makes me so happy~! You're just like me...!" ''(vs. Naoto in arcade mode) * ''"I'll give you a nice, killer hug!" ''(vs. Yukiko in arcade mode) * ''"I'll rain judgement down upon slutty girls like you!" ''(vs. Yukari in arcade mode) * ''"Ooh, that goatee is so wild! So adventurous!" ''(vs. Junpei in arcade mode) * ''"Come on you have to relax more Senpai~" ''(vs. Yosuke in arcade mode) * ''"Here!" ''(Guarding) * ''"Not bad." ''(Guarding) * ''"Try harder." ''(Instablocking) * ''"So obvious." ''(Instablocking) * ''"Dammit!" ''(Guarded improperly) * ''"Seriously?" ''(Persona Break) * ''"You're so mean!" ''(Persona Break) * ''"Stop it!" ''(Dealt a severe blow) * ''"So soft!" ''(Recovering) * ''"Please be gentle..." ''(Electrocuted) * ''"Ugh...so passionate!" ''(Recovering) * ''"What was that for?" ''(Recovering) * ''"Come at me more...!" ''(Recovering from a deadly combo) * ''"Heh...alright then!" ''(Recovering) * ''"So good!" ''(Attack) * ''"Here!" ''(Attack) * ''"Eat it!" ''(Attack) * ''"How 'bout this?" ''(Attack) * ''"Take this!" ''(Attack) * ''"You want some?" ''(Throw) * ''"I'll get rid of you!" ''(Air Throw) * "''I-It's coming!" (Non-final round victory) * "I'm sorry..." (Non-final round victory) * "I'm gonna strangle you." (Non-final round victory) * "Ahh, that felt so good!" (Final round victory) * "Here you go... enjoy..." (Final round victory) * "Aww...I'm so angry!" ''(Defeat) * ''"No!!!" ''(Defeat) * ''"Why won't you accept me?" ''(Defeat) * ''"Meanie!" ''(Defeat) * ''"Congratulations, you cleared it! We're totally compatible! I'm looking forward to get our freak on next time!" ''(Congratulations) Victory Quotes ;General *"''Ahh, please hurry and accept me! I don't care who!" *"Teeeheee, I've won. Now... let's dive into the realms of romance!" *"Teeheehee, I sensed your passion! All that's left is to accept me into you!" *"What's wrong with doing what I want!? C'mon, you should be more honest with yourself!" *"Don't worry, you don't have to be scared. Just close your eyes... and be taken to heaven!" *"No more of these troublesome introductions! Lets take off into a world where we can be alone!" *"You should stop lying to yourself too... cast off everything and show everyone what you truly are!" *"Why are you rejecting me so much? Aren't you actually interested, deep down? Heehee... you're such a shrinking violet!" ;Character Specific *Kanji Tatsumi: "It's time about time you were honest with yourself! Why don't you come over to our side and feel good with me?" *Naoto Shirogane: "Your magnum was so amazingly destructive! It was fascinating... I was completely enraptured...!" *Akihiko Sanada: "Oh my! Look at those amazing muscles! Looks like you can become one of my fabulous boyfriends, too!" Gallery